Legislative efforts to fight opioids welcome

A package of bills making its way through the Ohio General Assembly would continue to intensify the state's efforts to eliminate opioid abuse, a welcome effort if the funding truly is available for it.

The bills seek to limit the way certain addictive drugs can be prescribed, including requiring prescribers to check the Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System before issuing prescriptions and recording in it what the patient is being prescribed. Today, physicians are encouraged but not always required to use that system, and we see no reason why it shouldn't be used to the fullest. The only thing more frustrating than opioid addiction is the fact doctors can unwittingly fuel it by not checking what other doctors already have prescribed a patient.

However, perhaps the most sweeping change proposed - House Bill 369 - would require each county's drug addiction services board to provide a full spectrum of opioid recovery services, including treatment and housing. In most cases, they wouldn't provide the services themselves but would contract with providers. The legislation is written to allow multi-jurisdictional facilities.

Our biggest question about that funding: The bill's sponsors think the state can use $180 million in Medicaid savings to pay for those programs. We question, first, whether that would be enough and, second, just how stable that source of funding is.

That said, one of the biggest challenges faced by agencies fighting addiction is the lack of funding for treatment options. Today, addicts often are "treated" by simply sending them to jail or prison because there aren't enough treatment options around. What if, instead, judges could be sure of the availability of a reliable treatment program? How many of these addicts could instead be sentenced to get clean, instead of simply removed from the street for a few months or years? We think that could have a significant, positive effect on not only the lives of addicts but also their families and communities as a whole.

We applaud the Legislature for wading in with a possible solution and hope Ohio's lawmakers take the necessary time to weed out any potential negative consequences before passing some or all of the bills. In particular, we hope the legislation provides plenty of flexibility for local officials to design effective, flexible treatment plans based upon proven, successful methods.

The legislative efforts won't, of course, eliminate opioid abuse in Ohio. It's never that easy.

However, the state can continue taking steps to make opioids harder to obtain. Tighter control on the prescription process, from prescribers to pharmacists, is a welcome step. Providing real funding and a mechanism for treatment is even better.

It's not a complete solution, but this package of bills is a positive step in the right direction.

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Legislative efforts to fight opioids welcome

A package of bills making its way through the Ohio General Assembly would continue to intensify the state's efforts to eliminate opioid abuse, a welcome effort if the funding truly is available for